Training questions for Khaki...

[JFrick]

I thought I'd start a new thread. I mentioned the biting thing in another thread, but I'm having other minor issues that I can't figure out how to solve.

#1. Khaki (5 month old Aussie) likes to play bite, a lot....Sometimes it's just a nibble, but when she get wound up, the bites are hard. I've tried the ignoring thing and the "OWW" thing, but neither have had any effect. Any suggestions? It's not aggression at all, she's just playing....

#2. I've taught her to sit, lay down, speak, get this or that toy, and now when I say sit, lay down, or speak (any of these commands) she will sit down, then lay down, then speak. It's like a routine for her instead of the simple sit or whatever I ask of her. I didn't teach her to do this as I randomly taught her each command. The only thing she does that's not a part of the "routine" is to get whatever toy I ask her to. Are Aussie's so smart that they will just do all their tricks with just one command? She is my first Aussie....

#3. She's always jumping up on me and anyone else that comes near her....My fault, I know, as I would let her jump up on me. Now I really need to break this habit. I've been pushing her off and saying "Off" for the last 2 weeks or so, but it hasn't phased her....

Any suggestions on these would be great.

Here's a recent pic of her....she was talking to me when I snapped the photo.

 

[Roxy's CD]

I thought I already answered to this, oh well the site's been acting up a bit so I'll try to remember what I posted.lol

Ok, so with the play bite, when your saying "ow" are you really acting it out? You really have to pretend that she hurt you or otherwise she'll just think it's a game. If ignoring her doesn't work either perhaps try crating her, giving her a time out, she'll quickly learn that biting hard or biting for attention gets her locked up with not toys.

As for her routine, this is completely normal. She just assumes that if she does everything you've taught her she'll get a treat. Try giving her one command, let's say sit. When she sits and goes to lie down, say "NO. Sit" and make her sit, than a treat. Leave her be for a few minutes, than try another command. Try not to do the routine thing, always just one command at a time. (My guys do this when they beg, they think if they do their whole repetoire they'll get food!)

If "off" isn't working alone I suggest putting the leash on her. With my guys, I'd tell them off, if it looked like they were going to jump, just as soon as they were going up, I'd give them a quick pop, on their normal collar and repeat "OFF!". Than as soon as they sat, or didn't jump, I praised them "Good off Roxy!".

Hope that helped.

 

[JFrick]

Yeah, I have been acting out the "Oww", but it hasn't worked.

Thank you, I will give your suggestions a try. When I posted that thread, there ended up being 2 of them, then one got deleted. You may have responded to the one that got deleted.

Thanks again.

 

[RedyreRottweilers]

I think I have a thread on here called HOW TO STOP PUPPY BITING.

It has several links on training BITE INHIBITION.

If you can't find it, so a search on BITE INHIBITION and pay close attention to anything by Dr. Ian Dunbar.

You and your puppy need training class.

RIGHT away.

 

[Doberluv]

When you tell her "sit," and she sits plus barks, do not reward. Walk around (to start over) and try again. When she sits, try to reward her BEFORE she barks, but if she barks with the sit, no treat. If she sits and is quiet for just a second, try to reward before she barks again. Basically, only reward/treat for a sit. Keep praise low key. In this case, with the barking, I'd personally skip the praise and just pop a treat quietly to her upon compliance. Vary the commands at random times, random places etc. If she barks when you haven't told her, "speak," no reward. Only reward when you give the cue to the behavior unless you're trying to teach an automatic thing, which you can do later by phasing out the cue.

Basically, for any unwanted behavior, remove any possibility of a payoff. If she's jumping to get attention, ignore and walk away. When she can stand nicely for a pat, that's when she gets the pat. If she's biting too hard, screech, "ouuuu!" and walk away. End all playtime and attention. The second she is playing nicely again, reward with a treat and quiet praise.

If you give any attention or reaction to unwanted behavior, it will likely be repeated. If you reward pushy, you'll get pushy. Distracting, giving an alternative behavior to perform and rewarding for that will help. There are ways to show dogs things....what you mean so they'll understand. I recommend highly the book, Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson. It's invaluable.

 

[Zoom]

It sounds like she's offerring all the behaviors she can think of because she's not totally sure on which on you're asking for, or she's just overachieving. Sawyer has started doing this recently and what I do is interrupt him with a simple and neutral "No" and give him the command again.

I've also had pretty good luck with "watch the teeth"; I'm not sure how I taught him this one, except that when he started getting too rough with his mouth, I would just tell him "watch the teeth" and walk away. Now he will soften up or just settle down when he hears this.

Puppy class is probably a pretty good idea as well. She may end up being the shining star of it because she'll pick things up so quick, but it will also help to proof her so she can and will respond under distraction. Also, I've found that many Aussies are great copy-cats and if she sees that all the other dogs are sitting and nothing else, it may help her to understand that sit means just one thing.

 

[Doberluv]

PS..I know you said you HAD tried the ignore...how long have you tried that? Is everyone else who interacts with her doing the same? It takes dogs a few weeks of super consistancy to change a behavior. So far, it's been reinforcing somehow for her to do that, so that behavior has worked for her. It takes a little time for her to discover that that no longer works and then she needs to learn a whole new way to achieve what she wants...attention. (or whatever) So hang in there.

 

[Jynx]

khaki sounds like your typical wild little aussie *vbg*..I have used clicker training on my aussies, which they respond REALLY well to, but as soon as they see me get that clicker, they start offering all their "behaviors" because they aren't sure what's coming so "I THINK", they "think" if I offer em all, one of them is gonna get me something *vbg*..

I ignore all their "offerings", and only reward what I ask for. You might want to try a clicker with khaki, book "Clicking with your Dog" by Peggy Tilman is excellent, very easy read, and detailed on all types of tricks/behaviors.

as for the biting, my female can be a jaws, they get so wound up, they are soooooo wanting you to do "something" with them, they just can't contain those jaws *vbg*...A tired puppy is a good puppy ..wear her out..

As for jumping, well bad mommy for me, mine jumps to, she's a short little thing, no excuse, and again, the bad mommy that i am, I let her get away with her "wild" ways, to keep her in that happy high mode, since alot of negativity shuts mine down. Again , no excuse, and I do not allow her to jump on 'others', and she does know who she can get away with it on, (me) and who she can't or not acceptable (others)..

Have fun with your puppy, they grow up to fast, and they are definately entertaining dogs.
diane

 

[JFrick]

Thanks for all the replies. She's finally starting to ease up with the biting, been doing the Owww thing for a couple of weeks now.

As for the jumping up on people, that's gonna take me a while.

Thanks again everyone.

 

[Doberluv]

As for the jumping up on people, that's gonna take me a while.

When people come to your house, you can have a leash on your dog to keep her under control. Ask people, whether at your house or out on a walk to please pay NO attention to her while she's jumping up, to help you teach her. Teach her to sit everytime she wants to greet someone and ONLY then can she get a treat and a pat. You have to be consistant, everyone in the family must help and you need to ask others to help you too by ignoring that behavior....not giving her a payoff of pats and attention until she's either sitting or on all fours. (whichever you prefer) You can do this. Just practice practice....lots of reinforcements for good behavior and nothing good in it for her at all for jumping up. She'll soon choose what gives her the good stuff.

 

[Bailey+Ralph]

I don't know how it happened but i (and hubby and kids) will just tell Bailey in a soft voice "No biting" and this does the trick.
I just think that it is something that we have said right from the start.........Or i will say "put your teeth away", this works too.

 

[good_dog]

Sorry 'bout that... duplicate post.

 

[good_dog]

A couple of things to keep in mind...

Dogs learn patterns very quickly, including behavior chains. Remember that when you reward, you are generally rewarding about the last six seconds of behavior. It's very common for folks to teach such commands as down, speak, shake hands, etc. with the dog in a sitting position... which means it becomes a part of the behavior chain.

As for breaking habits... studies show that, on average, it takes sixty-four repetitions of a behavior for it to become a true habit (thoroughly ingrained behavior). When a habit is being broken, it takes one hundred twenty-eight repetitions to "unlearn" the behavior, and one hundred twenty-eight more repetitions to replace it. So, basically, keep at it. Don't give up, and don't assume something is fixed because she goes without jumping up or hand biting for a few days or weeks. Keep reinforcing the behavior you want LONG after she seems to have it down, and it will eventually become second nature.

I teach my dogs from almost the beginning that the way for them to get my attention is to come to me and sit at my feet... no jumping or pawing at me. When I add a dog to my pack, I first clicker train eye contact, then the sit in a couple of sessions; after that sit is reinforced at every doorway and at mealtimes. As soon as they've learned to sit on command, I begin giving the sit command every time they approach. If they are sitting, they can't possibly be jumping.

To combat "play biting" (which is NEVER excusable, by the way... your dog should never put her teeth on you), I teach "drop it" or "out." I again use the clicker, a medium-value toy or chew, and very high value treats. I get the pup interested in the toy. When the attention is engaged by the toy, I let pup smell the treat without releasing it. As he drops the toy to reach for the treat, I say "drop it," then give him the goodie and copious praise. After one treat, I go back to offering the toy, then repeat. A half-dozen or so repetitions per session, two or three sessions a day for a week (with a different toy each time), and he will have this behavior pretty well down. After that, start using it when he steals a sock from the laundry hamper or grabs your hand. You'll find that, with a little addtional reinforcement (and your treat pouch and clicker always handy), she begins bringing you things she picks up rather than playing the "keep away" game.

Have fun!
Beth